Patent Application Ser. No. 08/560,799, entitled, "Bulk Material Handling System," and filed Nov. 21, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,012 by Raymond Keith Foster, discloses a bulk material handling system that includes a collector bin for receiving bulk material and a bulk material break-up device positioned at an outlet end of the collector bin. The disclosure in this co-pending application is expressly incorporated herein by reference. In some aspects, the present invention is an improvement over the system disclosed in this application.
In some bulk material handling systems, bulk material is collected in a collector bin and subsequently transferred to a second conveyor. A typical arrangement is where the first collector bin is relatively large and is used to collect bulk material, while the second conveyor is relatively small and is only used to transfer bulk material. With this arrangement, it may be necessary to meter the bulk material from the collector bin onto the second conveyor. Also, when the second conveyor is aligned at an angle to the collector bin, it may be necessary to meter the bulk material as the bulk material is transferred from the collector bin to the second conveyor. A good example of such a bulk material handling operation can be found in agricultural by-product processing systems, such as would be used for handling corn bran by-product in corn processing facilities.
In addition, some types of bulk material tend to clump and, to a certain extent, bind together when the material sits for a while and compacts under its own weight. Clumped bulk material may need to be broken apart prior to transferring it to a secondary conveyor.
Application Ser. No. 08/560,799 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,012 discloses various types of break up/metering devices that are particularly suited for garbage handling. The present invention like the one disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 08/560,799, is suitable for garbage as well as agricultural products, such as corn bran, and other similar types of bulk material.